A Companion's Story
by LadyTimberlake
Summary: An second chance for a wounded soul. From the Companion's perspective.
1. Chapter 1

A Companion's Story

She had never been more nervous; not in her previous life, and not in this one. The Powers had told her that she was to help someone who was going to be important. She knew, from talking to ones who had gone before, that it was a very, very special assignment, and she was shaking in her...well, she didn't wear shoes anymore.

She paced slowly forward, the silver bells braided into her mane and tail twinkling merrily and her hooves muffled as they set down in the dirt. She was hoping for a boy...for another chance to...she immediately stopped that thought. Her life had served a purpose, and her choices had provided their world with a powerful defender. It didn't stop her from feeling the crushing sadness of it all, though.

As she passed a small group of children something pulled her attention to the one standing in the middle. Slight, dark hair framing pale blue eyes and an angular face, he was perhaps ten. He seemed to be getting ready to be in the middle of an altercation when his eyes rose and met hers.

Oneness, a sense of becoming whole. The world fell away until all she could see was his eyes boring into hers. What's more, all her doubts fell away in the face of his need to be reassured and comforted. He was afraid, and oh so lonely.

 _"It's ok, child. I Choose you. My name is Tera, and you will never be alone again."_

The boy walked, trance-like, up to her and she let her head down so that they were eye to eye. "My name is Rolan, Lady. I'm nobody special; I think you have made a mistake."

She nickered at him softly and nudged him toward her saddle with her nose. _"Companions don't make mistakes, child. Not when we Choose. Now hurry up and get up here before those other boys decide to come after whatever it is you took."_

Startled at her perception as much as by the fact that she wasn't berating him for doing something immoral, he complied. "I don't know much about riding horses, Lady."

She shook her head and laughed in his. _"I'm not a horse, child, and would you stop calling me Lady? I told you my name, did I not?"_

"Aye, and I told you mine, but you still call me child."

She started to move briskly back toward the city and laughed to herself. This child would be an interesting one to be around.

§ § §

As they approached Haven, Rolan spoke up again. "Where are we going?"

 _"To the palace. We have to meet with a special lady who will help you get settled."_

"Why are people so happy to see us? I don't know any of them." The poor child sounded genuinely confused.

 _"Well, the Choosing of a new Herald is always a cause for celebration. There aren't that many around, you know."_

"I thought they were everywhere. They seem to be, anyway."

 _"No, that's just how we make all this work. People have to think that there's always a Herald around the corner. It helps them feel safe and less like causing trouble."_

He thought about that for a minute, putting far more actual thought into it than she would have expected from someone his age. "I can see how that would be true. I know at home people don't really expect to see Heralds very often, so they tend to be more...aggressive in their dealings with other people."

Startled by his grasp of the situation, she almost missed the man standing at the gate. It was his gentle hand on her reins that brought her back to her senses.

"Tera, right?" The guard didn't seem to find it odd that he was speaking to a horse, but then, he _was_ stationed at the palace. "She's waiting for you at the stable. Go on and don't keep her waiting."

She rubbed her nose on his arm for a second before moving on, setting a newly brisk pace toward a lovely building set against a rolling green backdrop.

Standing in front of the building was a small woman with grey-streaked hair and a very odd uniform. It seemed to be a cross between a priestess's robes and a set of Herald's whites.

"Well hello, young one, we've been waiting for you for some time now."

He blanched at the thought of strangers waiting for him, and started to splutter an apology, but she interrupted him.

"No worries, young man. You just slide off of Tera and let me get you situated. You'll be back with her again before you know it."

"Um...did you just read my mind?" He asked as he did as she instructed.

She had a beautiful laugh. "No, I just have done this a time or two. My name's Talia."

"I...I'm Rolan."

Eyebrows raised clear into her hairline, she smiled slowly. "Is that right?"

"Yes, ma'am. I was named after...somebody important, but I can't remember who."

Her smile grew a little wider and she got a mischievous look in her eyes as a muscled companion came to stand behind her and laid his head on her shoulder; staring straight at the boy. "This is the Queen's Own Companion; MY companion. His name is Rolan and he has been around a very long time."

"H...hello?" He squeaked.

The very large companion paced solemnly forward and nudged the boy in the chest, knocking him back against Tera and making Talia laugh. "He's just teasing you, child. He wouldn't hurt you for the world."

Not sure he was comforted by the thought, he simply stood there and waited for more instruction.

She smiled again, and ushered him away from the stable, Tera pacing behind him.

Suddenly, another companion, with a grey-clad rider came to a thundering stop in front of the little party.

"This the new recruit?" A husky voice asked.

"Yes, Kero, this is him."

Rolan completely missed the exchange, though, because something was happening between the new companion and Tera. He didn't know if he needed to be afraid, or warn Talia, but he knew he should keep aware.

 _"Hello, Treesa."_

 _"Gods, Savil?! How did you know it was me?"_

The strange companion made a noise that just HAD to be a laugh. _"Van told me, of course._


	2. Chapter 2

_"It's Sayvil, here, Treesa, and you're Tera. You can't go giving all our secrets away by calling us by our Herald names."_

 _"I know, I was just so shocked. I didn't expect to hear your voice after all these years."_

Rolan walked over to her and placed a hand on her neck. "Are you ok, Tera?"

Startled by the question, she opened the channel back up between them and made her mindvoice sound cheerful. " _Of course, I'm all right. I'm simply catching up with an old friend."_ She nudged him toward Talia and tossed her head. " _You go with her. I'll see you soon. Horsemanship classes are now part of your daily routine."_

"If you're sure, Lady," he said with a smirk.

 _"Yes, child."_ Tera laughed at him and shoved him a little harder.

Kero swung down off of her Companion and set a light, calloused hand on his shoulder. "I'll watch out for her, Boy. I'm the weaponsmaster here; nothing will get to her, I promise." She smiled at him and handed him over to the patiently waiting Queen's Own. "Go on, now, you've got a million things to do, and this lady is very busy."

Walking slowly, he looked back the whole way until they had stepped through the door.

"That's a good one, there, I think." Kero commented. She patted Sayvil's neck and walked over to the fence. "I think I'm going to just stand here and watch the babies play while you two continue to chat," and turned her back to the two.

 _"I didn't know you had made the transition."_

 _"Well of course,"_ The dry voice continued. " _I protected this place as a Herald, and now I'll do it as a Companion. Probably make the transition a couple more times if they let me before I let myself rest."_ The Companion nickered in a chuckle and her Chosen, Kero, looked at Tera and let her lid drop in a slow wink; indicating that she was part of the conversation, if a silent part.

 _"Sav...Sayvil?"_ Tera's mindvoice was hesitant and soft. She didn't know if she could handle the answer to what she wanted to ask, but she knew she had to ask it.

 _"Ahh, Tera, you know he isn't. Van prefers to be...less constrained by rules than we Companions are."_ She chuckled. _"Though his freedoms have been curtailed a little since the last disaster."_

Tera perked up a little and prepared to ask her sister-in-law a barrage of questions about Vanyel, but was interrupted.

 _"You can't dwell on him right now, Tera. You have a job to do, the same as the rest of us. Companions remember who we are so we can take the knowledge from our lives and use it to help the children we Choose, not so we can continue familial relationships, or worse, feuds. I know the circumstances behind your being given this opportunity, and you know it was a special dispensation since only Heralds are typically given the option. I bet you didn't know Van intervened on your behalf, though. Don't make his choice be the wrong one, Tera. Know that he loves you even now, and let it go."_

Getting angry, she snorted and her mindvoice rose a notch. _"He was my SON, you old..."_

She had forgotten who she was talking to. _"I loved that boy more than you would believe, woman!"_ Sayvil shouted. _"While you and Withen were being selfish and stupid, I'_ _M_ _the one you sent him to. I'M the one who was here when Tylendel died and he was Chosen. I'M the one who nursed him, fought for him, and taught him."_ She quieted. _"I'm the one who watched him sacrifice himself to save the rest of us, Treesa. That boy was just as much my son as yours. He still is, even though I think he far surpasses either of us."_

Showing some of her inexperience, and a little of her human personality, Tera whined. _"But he visits you. Or at least speaks to you."_

Sayvil took a heaving breath and counted to ten; reminding herself that dealing with Treesa had always been a bit of a challenge, and making Kero laugh at her mental cursing. _"Tera, my Chosen is a fully grown, Shin'a'in trained, mage-befriended and lifebonded-to-a-Herald ex mercenary turned Herald. She is unique, and more than capable of sharing this secret with us. However, yours is just a boy. A potentially very powerful boy, but a boy still, and your bond is not fully formed yet. There is no way you would be able to keep a visit from Herald Mage Vanyel As_ _h_ _kevron, dead now for a very long time, from him. Even if you tried, he would sense the falsehoods in your mind, and it would destroy the trust vital to the Companion/Herald bond."_

Nose touching the ground, Tera simply stood silent for a minute, absorbing all she'd been told. _"You're right, Sayvil._ " Her head came up and some of the light returned to her eyes. _"I have a new responsibility now, and a chance to be better; to do better for Rolan than I could do for Van. I hope I have learned enough, and gained enough wisdom to see this through to the end."_

 _"I'm sure you will do your best, Tera. Van believes in you, and he's rarely wrong."_ Sayvil decided to leave it at that and walked over to Kero; standing with her and watching the young Companions.

Tera knew they were giving her a chance to decide which direction she was going to go, and she suspected that Kero was comforting Sayvil as well. She truly hadn't meant to dredge up such horrible memories.

 _"Well,"_ she said to herself. _"I guess it's time to present myself to the trainers and find out what Rolan and I are going to be doing in classes."_

 _"You. Tera. Wait."_

The mindvoice was deep, and a little stilted, like he didn't use it much. She raised her head the rest of the way to meet the eyes of the other Rolan, the Queen's Own Companion.

 _"I want to speak with you."_


	3. Chapter 3

Rolan tossed his head and turned to walk a few feet away from the others. _"You are hurt. You are stubborn. You stand at a crossroad."_

" _I...I don't understand."_

Blue eyes with the knowledge of more years than she could count bored into hers. _"Yes. I know. This is a problem."_

In her lifetime, Treesa had been called many things. She was flighty, and she was silly and vain. But she believed she had grown out of a great deal, and she had certainly changed after her son had been killed and she realized that there were people who would hold his love against him even though he had literally died defending them. So, even though this Companion's mindvoice was stern, and somehow...unearthly, she rallied her courage and stood just a little straighter while she looked at him. Not fearless, no, but at least willing to hold her own. Tamping down on her impatience, and intimidation, she simply stood and waited for him to continue.

" _The boy. He is special. Like the one you lost. He is also different. You will see similarities, but you cannot forget that he is not Vanyel."_

Starting at his use of Van's name, she threw her head and got an almost imperious look on her face. _"I KNOW that."_

" _Do you? If you treat him like he is Vanyel reincarnated, you will lose him. And your chance at redemption."_

" _You speak funny, and I believe I have had the point hammered into my head enough for today, thank you."_

A whiff of something like embarrassment drifted across her mind and she got the impression he was trying harder. _"My Chosen does not mindspeak, and I am not the most social of Companions. I suppose I am...out of practice."_

She bowed her head. _"I appreciate the warnings, I truly do. I know that I am hardly Companion material, when it comes down to it."_ She looked back up into his eyes. _"But I want so badly to make it right. I know this boy needs help, and I believe I can be what he needs."_

" _I think you will do fine. As long as you remember that he is NOT your son."_

Horses can't exactly cry, so even though she wanted to weep at the continual reminder that, though she had been given another chance, it was not with the one she owed so much to, she couldn't. All her body would do was shake.

" _I am...sorry for causing you pain. So much rides on this that we were afraid to leave it entirely to chance. We understand that you want your son back, and we understand that you wish you could go back and fix things with him. We need you to understand that you cannot."_ He tilted his head sideways, in an odd imitation of a curious bird, and studied her for a moment. _"I have a suggestion. I know you have not seen Vanyel's spirit. I know of one who has, who may be willing to share her experience with you."_

" _I really should be getting back to my chosen, and Sayvil just told me I had to let it all go, but oh, that sounds wonderful."_

A dry chuckle teased the back of her mind. _"He is fine. He is enjoying the attention being showered upon him by the Heralds. My chosen is watching after him, and she would not let anything harm any of those children. As for Sayvil..."_ Here he looked over at the other Companion. " _She has the right idea, but I think you may need just a little more closure from someone you did not have a relationship with as a human."_

Smiling at the pride and affection she could feel when he spoke of his Herald, she simply nodded. _"I would appreciate any help you can give me. If you would direct me to the one who met Van, I would be in your debt."_

He merely chuckled again. _"As you wish. Follow me."_

 _§ § §_

They walked to a part of Companion's Field that she had never been in before, and as she walked she noticed that the area around them was filling with others. _"What is going on, Rolan?"_

" _We are going to meet the Queen's daughter, Elspeth, and her Companion Gwena. She is currently enjoying a little recreation with her chosen mate and their friends who, I believe, have come back to visit."_

" _But why are we attracting a crowd? Surely these Companions have already met these people."_

His dry chuckle echoed in her skull once again. _"Oh yes, I am sure they have, but they hope it will be entertaining to watch you meet them."_

Not stupid, Tera understood that there was something very special either about the Princess or her friends. While she wasn't exactly happy about being the entertainment, she knew she was being offered an opportunity that most didn't have, and that she would be best served by hanging onto her temper.

Turning her head, she realized that Sayvil and her Chosen...Kero, she thought, were pacing along beside her and Rolan. When she sent a gentle query to Sayvil, she received another dry chuckle and the woman warrior simply grinned; showing her teeth.

" _We are here."_ Rolan announced before he snorted and, very deliberately, knocked his front hoof against a stone that was placed on the ground beside where he stood.

Freed from her contemplation for the moment, Tera took the opportunity to look around. She saw a ring of trees, with a space wide enough for a Companion to enter directly in front of Rolan. Anyone inside the trees would have privacy from prying eyes, though the laughter of humans, horses, and something Tera could not place rang out, along with what sounded like bird calls. It seemed that the rock had been intentionally placed as a way for the Companions to knock, since they WERE in the middle of their field.

"Come in!" A woman's voice rang out, and Rolan, trailing a curious Tera, complied.

As they slowly entered the clearing in the midst of the towering trees, it was hard to decide who was more astonished; Tera, for what she saw, or the handsome woman and her friends who were obviously flabbergasted at seeing Rolan, especially without his Chosen. Before Tera could even process what she was seeing, the other Companion bowed low to Rolan, and her Herald snickered at something nobody else heard before coming up to stand in front of the two newcomers.

"What have we here, Rolan?"

" _Princess Elspeth, this is the Companion to the child we have been waiting for."_

Her eyebrows rose and she simply nodded for him to continue.

He sighed, and seemed to make a decision. _"You are aware that most of us Companions have been Heralds before we were born into this life, correct?"_

"Yes, though I don't think many people know that."

" _They are not supposed to, Princess. This one was Vanyel's mother in her previous incarnation."_

Elspeth spluttered. "You have brought Vanyel's mother here to me? Why?" She looked around a little wildly, and seemed to calm when the striking male with her laid his hand on her shoulder.

"Perhaps he does not know, Ke'chara."

" _You're a Hawkbrother! Two of your people saved my Vanyel when he was wounded by a magical blade. Also, one of them attempted to heal a rift that my husband and I had allowed to grow between us and our son."_

He nodded and smiled. "Aye, Lady, I am." He reached up to stroke the breast of the bird sitting so calmly on his shoulder. "My friend and mentor's clan holds stories of Vanyel in high esteem. They are teaching tools as well as love stories."

Picking up on some tension he had not anticipated, Rolan inquired. " _What do I not know?"_

Kero stepped in, saving Elspeth from having to answer. "Van had children, Rolan, and one of them was an ancestor to Elspeth, here."

" _Van had...Vanyel?"_ Tera looked like she was going to collapse from the shock before she swung her head around and speared Sayvil with a look that promised murder. _"You didn't TELL me? He had...he had more than one child, and I never KNEW?"_ She was outraged, and horrified.

Sayvil's gaze stayed steady and calm. _"Van wanted the children to be safe, so he didn't want anyone to know. You know, at the end, that anyone connected to him was a target. The children all knew who their father was, but when it came down to the progeny of the King, he couldn't let it be known or the whole kingdom would have suffered. Eventually, it was forgotten. Elspeth didn't know, herself, until she met another of his descendents who had a better knowledge of his past and shared it with her."_

Rolan shook his head and stamped his foot. _"That is neither here nor there, and while I understand it is a shock, it is not why we are here, away from your newly Chosen and the responsibility he represents."_

One of the...creatures who had previously remained still so as not to startle Tera chose that moment to speak. "Yes...so why arrre you herrre, Rrrolan?"

The older Companion turned toward Gwena, who was still in a supplicating posture. " _Do stand. I do not require supplication. Nor do I desire it, if I am being honest."_ He paced over to her and nudged her gently. _"Tera needs a little closure so she can take on her new duties as a Companion with a clear heart and soul. She knows that Vanyel remains in a very real sense, but he has chosen to remain hidden from her, for some very good reasons. You, though,"_ He looked around at all assembled _"You have all met him, and even spoken with him if I remember the tale correctly. While I cannot compel you to share your experience, I would ask that you all tell her about it."_

Elspeth looked around at her friends and her Companion, looking for a concensus. What she found, apparently made her smile as she turned back to Rolan. "We agree." She motioned for Tera and Rolan to follow her and smirked at Kero. "You may as well come too, I believe your Sayvil has an interest in the subject as well."


End file.
